Strawberry Cheese Cake

Strawberry!!!! The fruit is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red colour, juicy texture, & sweetness.....But tell you the truth...I really don't enjoy it just like that....but I love it in my fruit salads, fruit punch, lemonade or in cheese cakes....so cheese cake it is today :)

Ingredients
For Biscuit Crust
10 to 12 Marie Biscuits
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp sugar powder
4 tsp melted butter

For Cheese Cake
3/4 cup cream cheese OR
{3/4 cup fresh cottage cheese + 1 tsp butter + 3/4 cup sugar (according to taste) + 1 tsp vanilla}
1 cup crumbled paneer (preferably homemade)
1 cup thick yogurt tied in muslin cloth for 20 minutes to let the excess water drained out (important to remove excess water)
1/2 cup fresh cream
3/4 cup sugar (according to taste)

For Strawberry Sauce
3/4 cup strawberry purée
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp sugar (according to taste)
1 tsp corn flour

For Garnish
Strawberry slices & whipped cream

Method
For Biscuit Crust
Grind the biscuits till coarse. Add cocoa powder, sugar & melted butter &
mix gently. The mixture will resemble bread crumbs.
Grease individual bowls with little butter.
Spread the biscuit mix evenly & gently level the surface using back of spoon.
Refrigerate the bowls for about 30 minutes.

For Cheese Cake
Take a chilled bowl & whisker, & place it on bed of ice .
Pour fresh cream & half of sugar & whisk well till it is thicker. Do not over beat or it will end up in buttery stuff. Keep aside.
To make cheese layer, mix crumbled paneer, cream cheese, rest of the sugar & mix well.
Add the drained yogurt & whisk well till smooth texture is obtained.
Add the cream to the cheese mixture & gently fold everything.
Taste it and if needed add some more sugar.
Now spread this mixture on the top of biscuit layer & even it.
Refrigerate it for 3 hours (might need more time to set).

For Strawberry Sauce
Take strawberry puree & water in a saucepan & heat on a medium flame.
Add sugar & mix it.
Add corn flour & mix it so there are no lumps.
Let it boil for 8-10 minutes or till sauce thickens.
Let it cool completely & it will thicken more as it cools down.
Pour this over cheese layer & refrigerate back for 6-8 hours.
Decorate with sliced strawberries before serving.

Tips
* I used Marie Biscuits with orange flavour (it gave a very nice taste) for the base layer, you can use any digestive biscuits.

* You can use Blueberries or Mango in place of Strawberries.
* The quantity of each layer is purely your choice. If you like the sauce more, than top it up more.
* If using store brought cream cheese then do taste it as it might be little salty & you might want to add more sugar.
* You can add 2 tsp of strawberry purée to cheese layer to give it a light pink colour.
* If you don’t like seeds or you want smooth strawberry sauce then strain puree with fine strainer.
* Let the sauce cool completely before adding to cheesecake.
* Without setting the cheese layer don’t pour the strawberry sauce, it will get blended with the cheese layer.
* Ideally a cheesecake needs 2-3 hours of refrigeration. But this cake needed 6 hours or so. This is because here we are not using any gelatine.
* Also if you wish you can add in 1/2 tsp of china grass with 2 tsp of water for the 3rd strawberry purée layer.
* Also if you don't want to wait that long, set your cheese cake in individual cups, this way it is easy to serve too.
* To make a perfect cheese layer you can use agar agar or gelatine & follow the process below.
{In a pan add water & allow it to boil, keep a small heat resistant cup containing china grass (agar agar) in water.
Allow it to boil until you see a clear liquid when the china grass is dissolved completely.
Now add the china grass water mixture to the cream mixture, give a quick stir.
Fill it up immediately as a second layer, reserving little space at the top. Chill it for 4 to 5 hrs or even overnight for best results.
Then add the remaining strawberry puree as a third layer & refrigerate again. Serve chilled}.

MOST IMPORTANT - In above recipe there is no Gelatine or China Grass, so if you are setting the cheese cake in individual bowls you can use low fat cream. But instead if you are making full cake & want to serve after slicing, I would recommend you to use heavy cream. Also yogurt used should be very thick.

Variation

This is same cheesecake, only the strawberry purée is swirled here instead of pouring as a layer.
For swirling-
* Pour little purée on the cheese layer and make swirls with the help of back of a spoon or a blunt knife.
* Do take care of not touching the biscuit layer otherwise you will have a mixture of cheese cake instead of layers. (it won't taste bad though :D)
* Let it set for few hrs before cutting
* Remember, Individual cups or bowls will always look better.